There are approximately 500,000 new cases of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) admitted to hospitals in the United States each year, and the incidence requiring hospitalization is estimated to be approximately 200 to 225 per 100,000 population. Currently, it is estimated that brain injuries account for 12% of all hospital admissions in the United States. Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) account for another 10,000 cases per year.
Transportation-related injuries of all types are responsible for approximately 50% of TBI within the United States and the developed world. The costs of severe TBI to the individual, family, and society are extremely high. Extrapolation of the data from studies results in an estimated 26,000 trauma deaths per year, with another 20,000 to 45,000 patients suffering significant physical or neurobehavioral sequelae resulting in functional loss. The direct costs of TBI are over $25 billion annually in the United States alone. The average direct hospital charges were estimated to be $117,000 per admission in 1993 within the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems. One can easily determine that TBI is an extraordinary medical care problem globally that is closely comparable in morbidity, mortality, and economic loss to human immunodeficiency virus infection; yet it is an understudied mechanism of morbidity and mortality.
Currently, there exists no system, process or method for treating such injuries at the scene of such incidents except for rudimentary techniques such as immobilization and physical stabilization. While helpful, research has shown that cell death in the brain and spinal cord starts almost immediately. It is estimated that 40% of all damage is done in the first ten minutes after injury and most initial damage is done in four hours. Yet there is no present system or method for at least ameliorating such damage inside the treatment time window.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous and desirable to have a system and method of detecting and analyzing neurological injuries and providing immediate, ameliorating treatment while overcoming the drawbacks and disadvantages of any somewhat related prior art.